Five on the fly: Andre Johnson was a beast, but the safeties had their worst performance as Texans

1. It was definitely Dre Day. Andre Johnson was not himself earlier this season and it definitely showed. I’m not sure why his knee took so long to recover from an arthroscopic procedure, but we definitely saw a different Andre Johnson yesterday. Upon re-watching, I paid careful attention to how Dre was getting in and out of his breaks and he looked great. He was able to stop and start quickly and get the separation that we haven’t seen for awhile. Make no mistake, Jacksonville’s secondary was abhorrent yesterday, but it was great seeing Andre Johnson make them pay vertically, after the catch and with the short to intermediate routes. Matt Schaub decided he was going to lock in on Dre from the beginning of the game and Dre never let him down.

2. I haven’t seen the Texans safeties play a worse game over the last two years. Make no mistake, I believe that the Texans have one of the top 3 safety combinations in the league, but for as good as they played against the Bears, they were equally bad against the Jaguars. Glover Quin practically whiffed on one of Marcedes Lewis’ TDs when Quin tried to get his hands on him and knock him off his route. Instead, Quin missed and trailed Lewis by a couple of steps which made it easy for Henne to throw it over Quin’s head for the TD. Justin Blackmon had a big gainer when he got inside of Danieal Manning who was playing him in man-to-man and Quin was late getting over to help. Manning eventually chased Blackmon down, but not before a big game. On the 3rd and 21 pass play that in the 4th quarter that turned into an 81 yard TD pass, Manning came over to put a hit on Blackmon after he made the catch for what would have been a first down, but instead of wrapping up, he just put a shoulder into him and Blackmon bounced off of him and ran the rest of the way into the endzone. Chad Henne should NEVER abuse the Texans with so many big plays in a single game.

3. Where is the pass rush? The Texans had two sacks yesterday, but they didn’t get nearly enough pressure on Chad Henne and Henne made them pay. The Texans can continue to talk about how their OLBs are just a step away from the QB and playing as hard as ever, but the reality is very clear that if J.J. Watt or Antonio Smith aren’t getting in the QB’s face, then it will probably take blitz pressure by a defensive back because it just isn’t consistently coming from Connor Barwin or Brooks Reed. Last year Barwin had 36 QB pressures (hurries + knockdowns) to go with his 11.5 sacks. So far this year, he has 14 pressures and just 2 sacks. The Texans will likely face Peyton Manning and/or Tom Brady in the playoffs so they had better start getting more pressure from the outside or we could see even more fireworks from opposing QBs.

4. Matt Schaub and the Texans found a new way to win which is important. I was so excited to see the Texans go into Chicago and win a bad-weather, hardcore game with defense and conservative decision-making because it was the right thing to do for that game. It showed a level of organizational maturity that Super Bowl teams need to have. Yesterday, the Texans won a game with over 640 yards of total offense and 504 yards passing. Because of the defense’s poor play, much more was required of the offense and they did what the day called for. Matt Schaub didn’t do anything spectacular with the comeback – he utilized the short passing game in the middle of the field and on the perimeters – but he played with great poise and threw with great accuracy when needed. Schaub threw a couple of really bad interceptions, but he also opened it up and proved he could operate out of the 4 and 5 WR sets with a great deal of success. It’s hard to win when you have as many big plays go against you as the Texans had and yet they found another way to win.

5. Shayne Graham’s lack of leg strength is really becoming an issue for the Texans. I decided to chart the kickoffs of Josh Scobee versus the kickoffs of Shayne Graham and the results were just as decisively in Scobee’s favor as you might expect. Graham kicked off 8 times and had only two touchbacks while kicking into the endzone just 3 times. Scobee, on the other hand, kicked off 8 times and had every kick go into the endzone with five 4 touchbacks and one return that ended up inside the 20-yard line. The more kickoffs that are returnable (Texans are worst in the league in touchback percentage), the greater the chance for a big special teams play by the opponent. As for Graham’s leg strength on FGs, he is only 6 of 10 on FGs of 40+ which will cause Coach Kubiak to potentially alter his strategy at times when the Texans are beyond 48-yard attempts.

dQuick Hitters

* Bradie James played much better against the run yesterday than I’ve seen from him for most of the year, but he did get completely lost and missed his assignment on the big run by Parmelee that put the Jaguars inside the Texans 10-yard line with a chance to win in overtime. So… there was that.

* I know it looks like hindsight, but I would have kept trying to move the ball further down the field rather than settling for a 42 yard FG at the end of regulation (turned into a 47-yarder) to win the game. I hate when coaches decide to just sit on the ball and kick 40+ FGs to win considering the fact that Schaub was in complete command of the short passing game at that point.

* Earl Mitchell plays with a great motor and is tough for offensive linemen to handle in one-on-one situations, but he got driven WAY off the line of scrimmage at times by Jacksonville’s double teams.

* Andre Johnson had a solid game in the run blocking department as well.

* Is there anyone you feel more confident in coming up with the pass than James Casey? When Schaub throws it to Casey, Casey makes the catch. It’s pretty much that simple.

* Darryl Sharpton actually looked pretty decent for having missed so much time with his injury. I thought Sharpton played downhill and tackled with great aggression, but he did lose his responsibility on Marcedes Lewis on the play-fake TD that Manning tried to come off of his man and defend. That wasn’t on Manning, that was on Sharpton.

35 Responses

great game yesterday … schaub nt in overtime really made me pod but he made up for it , is it just me or does he get his guys beat up alot i mean its almost like every throw he makes it ends with the reciever getting blown up , thats something the greats dont do.

The Texans had two sacks yesterday, but they didn’t get nearly enough pressure on Chad Henne and Henne made them pay.

It’s amazing how much everything turns, defense-wise, on pressuring the QB. There are exceptions for the truly awful guys at the bottom, but pretty much any midlevel and above NFL quarterback is going to eventually make you pay if there’s no pressure.

Aaron Maybin is a free agent I believe. Do you think it’s worth a look? Can’t be any worse than Barwin or Reed at this point. Other than Watt, the D-line put very little pressure on the QB’s which requires the secondary to cover for an extended amount of time. Lastly, can we change to another kicker? His short kickoffs will eventually bite the team at some point.

I don’t think anyone on any other team is worth a look. You find out if you want to hang onto Barwin and at what price and then you develop Mercilus who you drafted in the first. Next year, Graham will be gone and Bullock will be the new kicker.

I couldn’t agree more about Kubiak needing to have ran at least one more play (maybe for another 5 yards up the middle, which they had been eating up) before allowing Graham to try the game winning field goal. I am quite concerned, as are most Texans fans, with his ability to kick the deep ball come playoff time.

I’m curious as to what you saw on film with regards to the run blocking on the right side. It seems to me, which I tried to find the stats that indicate ypc to the left, right, and up the middle of the line, that Foster is struggling when running behind the guys on the right side. Multiple times yesterday he would run the stretch to the right side and nothing ever opened up on either the stretch or the cutback, so he’d end up just following them towards the sideline before cutting up at the last second to salvage the yard or two that he could get. Watching all year I don’t think there is any doubt that Foster still possesses elite vision and cutback abilities, so am I wrong to think that the O-line is responsible for the brunt of the running game troubles. Foster at 3.8 ypc is ridiculous given his skill set.

Lance,
as usual, you do great write ups on the Texan’s. You are so correct about the lack of a pass rush for most of Jacksonville game. I wouldn’t hesitate to gave Mercilus more playing time if Barwin/Reed continue to disappoint. I also believe Mitchell and Smith should be putting up more of a pass rush since Watt often draws the double team. Keep up the good work.

The idea of facing Manning or Brady in the playoffs is unnerving. I know we beat the Broncos but it was close and it seems Denver has gotten better since then. No matter how we do against the Patriots in a couple of weeks, Brady in the playoffs is just frightening.

I know it is a bit of a chicken and egg thing, but was our poor pass defense due to faulty coverage or lack of a pass rush?

I often feel like Kubiak and the O-Coordinators treat the Texnan’s offense like a sports car they are afraid to open up and haul ass in every now and then. They probably have one of the most talented offenses in the game. Just seems like they made it more difficult on themselves yesterday then they should have.

Lance,
Great post, as always! Regarding point #3, I’ve been really concerned about the lack of QB pressure from our LBs for several weeks and, as you well said it, it’s even a greater concern when you start thinking about the team’s potential opponents in the playoffs. Given how bad the secondary played yesterday, do you think Wade Phillips will grow gun shy about sending different blitz packages moving forward? And it’s not like the rate of success (measured as some form of QB pressure such as sacks, QB hits, batted balls, etc.) of their blitz plays has been great, and we saw quite a few yesterday. What would you recommend as the best strategy if Barwin and Reed don’t wake up from their slump come the playoffs? I’m just worried to death about Manning or Brady feasting on a defense that cannot bring pressure to the QB without having to bring extra defenders in a blitz. You know those two love to be blitzed and burn you for it.

Good stuff, Lance. I was also mumbling and grumbling when the Texans sat on the ball when they reached 42 yard range although Schaub had been picking the Jaguars defense apart relentlessly. The penalty setting the kicker back even further is one of the primary reasons I don’t like doing that. Also, I agree that the inability to kick the ball deeper on KO’s is becoming more and more aggravating. On the other hand, the kick and kickoff returns were better.

Do you have a sight where once can watch coaching video of Texans games?
fl billllly

Great post. Scary win but finding a way to get it gives me hope this will prepare them get deep into the playoffs. I do have a question about the OLB’s and the pass rush. Is there anything that you noticed about the group that wasn’t allowing them to seperate themselves from the blocks and get to the qb? At times, it looked like they just stayed ingaged way too long with the blockers. Thanks.

Agree on doubts about Shayne Graham. I was saying the same thing at the end of regulation. Kubiak carried on as thought the FG was a lock. They should have taken a timeout after AJ’s big catch. Yes, it will be nice to have Sharpton in the fold for a couple of weeks before he goes down for the season again.

I definitely noticed Sharpton and the amount of reps he was getting in that game. I thought he would play sparingly, but Kubiak sure threw him out there. He looks like hes ready to contribute immediately though. I saw him play with the kinda hitting violence that the coaches were so high on when they drafted him.

I agree with you about the pass rush. Our secondary is getting exposed by our lack of pass rush. Hasn’t history shown that this has been what happened in year 2 everywhere Wade Phillips has been. The OC’s seem to have figured something out………..we can’t have our OLB’s accounting for only 3 – 4 sacks.

I’m liking Kubiak better as a head coach as time goes by but he still seems clock-challenged. Down two touchdown and with 7:40 to go in the game, you throw the ball, even on a first and goal from the one. Incompletions stop the clock and you have four chances at it. It took them a full two minutes to score from the one. You have to throw the ball in that situations, at least the first two downs. It seems to me there’s an awful lot of NFL head coaches who don’t understand time until it comes down to the last four minutes. I know under most circumstances, handing the ball off to AF would have been the ideal first option but we have too many red zone receiving options (OD, AJ, Casey, Graham, AF)not to use them at that time. It worked out this time, maybe a little nitpicky, just saying….

Well one of those ints was on Owen Daniels in my opinion- and judging from the look on Matts’ mug ,i believe that is the two bits from at least two of us.
OD broke off his assigned route too soon.
Schaub was a bit chased so I believe OD thought is was the right thing to do. But nonetheless, Schaub put it where OD was heading -and shoulda stayed heading – his agreed upon route. OD missed a lock big time as well ,something he was really good at pre injury. Bit of Rust ther I’d say.
Check it out.
I thought it was a great game in many many ways. And I am one tought crowd- nobody complained more during that 6 and 10 fiasco than I.
But sorry Charlie- at 9 and 1 you gotta show me a downhill PATTERN before I start complaing about this team -especially wins.
This year i am fond of saying the Kuber, who I Villianized ( with good reason i feel) in 2010, hasn’t lost a one yet.
Now I am not too sure he didn’t win one – with a small assist granted from the Jags. The play to call to end the game was a good one.

PS they will have probelems with a reallly Good QB- the run? Not so much.
Only a steller job by the front seven can save that day.

Lance I respect your football acumen, which is why I’m taking the time to get your take here. I’ve been a play-by-play commentator and sportscaster for over 12 years, and the two things I can say, with history on my side, is that my Texans will never win a super bowl with matt schaub as our qb and kubiak as our hc.
I know you’ve heard this before. However, I believe the ‘cultural’ and ‘systemic’ are overlooked in favor of ‘what’s happening between the lines’.
Its ‘because’ we’re houston sports fans that we need to demand excellence from our franchises, and I believe the Texans have fallen into a familiar trap of ‘sealing holes as they go’ as opposed to a championship approach utilized by the greats of ‘working backwards’ or from ‘your ultimate goal’ forward.
Any wanna be owner like myself can open am almanac right lance? Well I look at the past 15 Lombardi winners and see 2 constants 1) a clutch qb or a qb capable of making big plays down field and 2) a relentless pass rush and/or ability to create to’s.
Ill throw in a ‘red passed’ rah rah head coach for good measure(all due respect to dungy)
The formula can be applied to the strohs as well. Starting pitching and timely hitting, and ridding payroll of high priced position players. But how the heck do you tell a 9-1 team and its fan base, “sorry fellas, you simply don’t have the leadership to win it all?’ I know you don’t is the short answer and “I told you so” gets us nowhere.
Is it just as simple as “championships simply don’t have enough positive economic impact’ to justify hiring those pieces when you still profit?

The team I would disagree with you on is obviously the Ravens from 2000-2001. Billick wasn’t any more boisterous Kubiak on the sidelines or in the locker room. I think people have Kubiak wrong because they don’t see him in practice or in meetings. From the players I’ve spoken with over the years, Kubiak is no shrinking violet when it comes time to get into someone. Obviously the Texans QB is substantially better than Dilfer while the defense is a step below Baltimore’s. The biggest difference is that I don’t see any “great” teams out there this year. Who are they?

Lance, (not that I am any type of football expert) however, it seems that A/Foster is a bit tired… I thought they should have ran Grimes and Forsett a bit more than usual. Also it seems that the Texans don’t have an all-out blitz/block package for attempting to block a punt; am I wrong?

No, it doesn’t. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I was watching the game. I have season tickets but didn’t go to this game – however, there is a guy that sits just down from me who screams at Kubiak over every perceived mistake. I’m glad I didn’t have to witness/hear the God awful screaming that I know was coming out of that dude’s mouth over that decision.

Who is Ball, the cornerback? I watch/attend every game and I’ve never heard of him.

On the long run by Parmelee, Mercilus had outside contain but let a lineman get outside and hold him up. He got completely beat on that one. I hope he gets the little things down because he is great as a pass rusher.

Thinking definitely Alexander, and then I’m stuck. I need two more. Antonio Brown might be questionable, and it looks like Charlie Batch is going to be QB, so Sanders doesn’t look that good any more. Hester got the highest receiving yards against the Niners last week (all 23 of them) and Minny doesn’t look that good against #2 and slot receivers, but what’s his upside if Campbell’s still starting? I know Seattle isn’t All-World on the road, but Hartline doesn’t look like a great fit. And Gates has had next to no usage, but NE (per DVOA) looks absolutely abysmal against #3 WR and lower. Could this be the game he breaks out? What other deep threat do they have at this point? And NE doesn’t look that bad against the run, at least compared to their pass defense.

Thinking Alexander, Hester, Gates. Am I an idiot?

RB: Pick 2, Bradshaw, Ballard, Bush, or Mendenhall. Thinking Bradshaw, Ballard, and Flexing Mendenhall. (The other choice for flex would be Bush, Joel Dreesen, or one of the WRs.) Thoughts?

Thanks. You and Charlie are getting better and better with each new show.